Crews Break Ground on New Reber-Thomas Dining Hall

The Food Court at Reber-Thomas, known colloquially throughout campus as the Rot, is being rebuilt in a new location between Commons III and the lake beside the Jerry Falwell Library. 

The brand-new building will be larger and allow for more students as freshman class sizes increase.

“We have the largest freshman class that has ever come to the university this fall,” said Daniel Deter, Vice President of Major Construction. “If this is going to be something sustainable, we have to expand the Rot to fit more students.” 

More room means more seating for the growing student body. 

According to Deter, the current Rot can hold about 2,100 students and the new dining hall will be able to hold around 2,700 students. 

Deter elaborated on the new dining hall: it will be two-stories high, with a grand entrance, more windows, and TV monitors to broadcast sports games and other special events. He also said that the school consulted with students before starting on this project. 

“We met with some students when the board approved the project,” Deter said. “We tried to incorporate what the students wanted in the new dining hall.”  

The goal is for the new Rot to be complete by the spring of 2023. 

“There are pros and cons to moving the dining hall’s location, but overall, I think the new location will be better,” senior Katie Lewis said. “Although it’ll be farther away from the academic buildings, it’s closer to most of the dorms and the East Campus tunnel.” 

Deter explained that the beloved building is on its last leg and the roof is in bad shape. The current location will be torn down and converted into an academic building. 

Students are excited to have a new dining hall that is more modern and better fitted to the size of the student body. 

“I think that given how the roof can sometimes leak and (with) the crowds that have been very apparent this year that having a new larger building will be very nice, especially as it will fit in much better with the architectural aesthetic of the campus,” said senior Joshua Jachlewski. 

Charlotte Hazard is a News Reporter.